


Good Morning, Honey

by lionessvalenti



Category: White Collar
Genre: Community: love_bingo, Established Relationship, Fluff, Mornings, Multi, Nicknames, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-07
Updated: 2012-06-07
Packaged: 2017-11-07 03:23:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/426399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mornings remind Neal of what he doesn't have -- and what he does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good Morning, Honey

Elizabeth was always the first one up, a natural early riser, so Neal wasn't surprised to wake up alone in the bed with Peter. With a grin, Neal reached under the blankets and pressed his cold hands against the exposed skin between Peter's boxer shorts and where his tee shirt had ridden up during the night.

Peter jumped, spinning onto his back. "Stop that!" he exclaimed, his voice thick from sleep, but he didn't seem especially annoyed. He wrapped his arms around Neal's body and pulled him close. "Hey."

Neal closed his eyes for a moment and he smiled. "Good morning. I hate to break it to you, but we need to get up. It's almost seven." He knew that Peter wanted to get into the office a little early.

Groaning, Peter kissed Neal's neck. "All right, all right."

It was a bit of a scuffle in the bathroom with both Neal and Peter trying to brush their teeth and shave at the same time. Neal had only been staying the night on workdays for a few weeks, and they hadn't figured out how to manage the mirror just yet. After getting elbowed in the gut, Neal left the bathroom to Peter and changed quickly into his suit. He was still straightening his tie as he walked down the stairs.

Elizabeth had set out five different boxes of cereal on the dining room table, and had even poured the milk out of the plastic jug and into a glass pitcher. It was like her to make it a little fancy in small ways, even on a busy Tuesday.

"Good morning, gorgeous," Neal said, kissing the top of her head.

She looked up from her laptop and smiled. "Good morning. Did you get my husband out of bed?"

"I did," Neal replied. He sat down across from her and selected a box of Cheerios. "He doesn't like it when I wake him up with my cold hands."

Elizabeth smiled and raised an eyebrow. "He likes it when you wake him up with warm hands."

Neal snorted as filled his bowl. "It was too late for that, not if we wanted to eat something before we left."

"I should have gotten you up when my alarm went off," she replied, and Neal laughed.

"I'll see if I can get Peter to get out of the office before dark."

"Why am I leaving the office early?" Peter asked as he came down the stairs. His tie was draped over his shoulders with the collar of his shirt still open.

"Sex," Elizabeth replied, smiling brightly. For as many times as she teased Peter, being sultry and cute, she was blunt with him just as much. He'd been married to her for a dozen years, and she could still surprise him. Neal liked that.

Peter hesitated and blinked a couple of times, and then he smiled. "Well. I'll see what I can do." He bent over and kissed Elizabeth. "Morning, honey."

Neal dropped his eyes to his cereal. He spent countless nights in bed with Peter and Elizabeth. He'd been wrapped up between them, their arms around his body, and Elizabeth's leg tucked between his own. He'd felt Elizabeth's hand brush against his back as they made dinner together, and he'd met Peter's eyes across the conference room table and he'd known that Peter's mind wasn't on their case. However, Neal couldn't stand to watch the intimacy of Peter and Elizabeth referring to each other as "honey".

Neal couldn't explain why it was so uncomfortable for him. Maybe it was because he wasn't part of it. Peter and El had invited him into every other part of their relationship, but he didn't have their nickname. It was the one thing they left him out of, and they probably didn't even realize they did it.

It was a loaded word in their house. It meant everything between Peter and Elizabeth, shorthand for their feelings, and Neal knew it.

Elizabeth called him sweetie or sweetheart, or sometimes she called him darling, which Neal liked in an old-fashioned sort of way. Peter didn't really call him any pet names, though sometimes, in the dark of their bedroom, Peter would mumble pure nonsense into Neal's ear, and while it was never "honey", it was nothing but love.

Neal ate his cereal, and watched Peter knot his tie over his Frosted Flakes. He wasn't paying attention while he ate and talked to El, and Neal afraid that at any moment, the fat end of the tie would end up in the bowl, but miraculously, it stayed clean.

"We gotta go," Peter said around the last bite of his cereal. "Come on, Neal."

Neal got up from the table, picking up his bowl, and then Peter's, taking them into the kitchen. He dropped them into the sink and turned around to find Elizabeth right in front of him. "Hi," he said, surprised.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the mouth. "I love you," she said in a low voice. "I wasn't just teasing. You try to get home early. Tell Peter it'll be worth it. It'll be worth it for both of you. I'll cook."

"That's enough to get us home," Neal said. El had been just as busy with work as Neal and Peter had been, so over the last couple weeks, there had been a lot of take-out.

Elizabeth poked Neal in the chest and then straightened his tie, even though it was already straight. "Try to keep yourself out of trouble."

"When I do get into trouble?" Neal asked with a grin. He squeezed her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you, too."

Peter poked his head into the kitchen and for a moment, his features softened and he smiled at the two of them. "Neal, we really need to go."

Neal walked out of the kitchen, leaving Peter and El to their own goodbye where they could call each other whatever they wanted. Instead, Neal stood by the door and debated his black trilby to a navy blue one. He flipped the blue one onto his head when he heard Peter's footsteps come up behind him.

"Do you think we can get out of the office before seven?" Neal asked as they walked outside. It was early, but the threat of summer humidity already hung in the air.

Peter clapped a hand onto Neal's shoulder. "I'll see what we can do." He paused and they both came to a stop on the sidewalk. Peter considering Neal for a moment and then leaned in, kissing Neal right there where anyone could see. It wasn't a secret, but they usually weren't so bold, especially not Peter.

Neal grinned, and they walked down to the end of the block where Peter had parked the car the night before. He may not have the history or the pet names that Peter and Elizabeth had with each other, but sometimes he had to remember that he had the most important thing: their love.


End file.
